On a radio show that I frequently listen to, just before the election of President Obama, a cop called in, many do on this channel for some reason, and mentioned that he had just stopped a car with one head light out. He was just going to issue an equipment violation warning, barring any other obvious violation which there wasn't. But when he approached the car the black driver behind the wheel immediately told the officer.. "This is some bullshit, and this shit is gonna end when Obama becomes president." The officer replied .. "Why? Is Obama gonna be your mechanic?" At that point he collected the driver's paperwork, and upon returning to the stopped car, handed him a ticket. lol

In the scheme of things, many of us have wondered what the outcome would be in the event a black president was elected, and certainly in a more positive sense on the idea of oppression in this country. Everything from police violence or as it's widely considered a shell shock for those who run who have presumably done nothing criminal, except being black. And of course those who have records spanning the majority of their lives thus far. On a grand scale, black suppression is a problem. But this police officer's testimony was one of many documented reports in the media of reactions from various black americans who suddenly believe they might get some immediate restitution to all the bad that has been done to them by this society, including having their mortgages suddenly paid in full, when actually they did have the means to pay it, but made "other" considerations, before their mortgages. Or their jobs reinstated, or another suddenly provided, when in fact they missed 10 out of 30 days in a month's time. Somehow, someway, this Black President is their new found savior for those who seemed to need one. I suppose everyone needs one. But self-oppression does not need a savior. It needs a little foresight and discipline.

I have absolutely no doubt that President Obama will have an incredibly positive impact on Black Americans. Including those of the inner city. That is historically progressive and a long time coming, indeed. I am quite enchanted at the notion that perhaps his perceived election into this position has enlighten those who still feel that their personal strife in this country is due to the color of their skin, their race, they being black, and that everyone else gets a second chance, a break, and have had far better prospects at employment, and privilege, and benefits and common respect in the most generic of terms... etc. etc.

I should also, perhaps, have some expectation of the crime rate suddenly decreasing because given these universal contentions in this country, this notion of black being a substandard race no longer applies. I suppose one could argue such a thing. I suppose it might very well be the first thing out of a White Supremacist, or perhaps someone who grew up in a neighborhood which turned unihabitable once welfare was passed and landlords were given a sizable compensation/subsidy to accommodate these folks, any folks, but mostly minority who needed public assistance. I suppose I too, and first hand, with little idle prejudice not only express this point of view, but I could also, in fact, provide a direct testimony on how neighborhoods turn bad for no other reason but the lack of respect for their surrounding, their neighbors, their own personal lives. If President Obama can provide this "Change" in the mentality of folks who have pretty much defined what it like to trash a neighborhood with no good cause, to mention one reality, he will have completely won my respect as a candidate. Not a black candidate. Just a damn good choice for presidency. That's to begin with.

Allow me to elaborate a bit, K?

So, to begin with, I've only imagined feeling any sense of genuine oppression. Ive lived in this country for nearly my entire life and the closest I came to even an imposition on my familys lifestyle was living in a neighborhood where it soon became mandatory to be in the house by 8pm and lock all our doors in a building my uncle owned. In a building my entire family lived in.

That was in 1966. And this was not because of any ordinance, or curfew. It was because the people who had moved into the building knew very little about respecting the common areas of the buildings property, at the very least. The walls became edged with graffiti. The unfamiliar stench of urine started building up in the stair wells. There was garbage strewn just four feet from the dumb waiter closet and the music got louder and stayed on longer. Sometimes all night.

It wasnt long after, that we discovered our doors slightly opened and our apartments combed through. Nothing drastic, but we were surprised, because we were violated. Someone actually came into our homes and stole some things. The fox-locks were installed and we were not long for this place. By 1970 we all moved out of the building to better places. And Ill never get over the fact that we had to move. It was no longer safe. And my family of relatives, cousins, aunts and uncles were forever separated. I am an only child and they were my immediate family.

We were a clean, respectful group of people. We still are. We never said anything about our right to live a decent life. We never protested or coordinated a media task force against these violations. We never complained. We should have. But that was prejudicial and well... in those days, impolite. So we just turned a blind eye for the sake of these "poor" people, and just left, as many do, when faced with the reality of a decaying neighborhood. And we left because we all had the means to. Thats the only reason. Because we could. That was the mentality of a more respectful society. And, unfortunately the favor was never repaid or reciprocated.

The dichotomy of cultures within a neighborhood in the early sixties was less prevalent an issue because at home we shared a common denominator. The neighborhood. Keep your house, your children, yourself clean and reasonably respectable, at least by all appearances. In the city, it mattered very little what race or nationality you were, in this regard. I certainly didnt know the difference. In the upper part of Manhattan, on Park Avenue, we had every imaginable culture. Yet none stood out more. Crime was relegated to certain dark areas and the masses congregated around avenue shops and parks during the day. Central Park mostly. People were as obtuse as now, but the fear we had then was almost comically benign by comparison.

This could be said for nearly ever section of the five boroughs. But my example goes back to the Upper East and West Side. It goes back to trying to find some resolve in having had the need to leave what was a beautiful neighborhood and the comfort of my family. Because for quite some time, we truly lived in harmony. And for one reason only. Self-respect and respect for others.

These days, I find myself infuriated once again. Not by any decay in my neighborhood. I no longer live in bad element. I am infuriated in once again experiencing the strong sense of imposition, by the oppressive mentality of those who cry hardest for their equal rights, yet do the least, the very least in gaining any measure of self-esteem. By those who, in achieving their personal ambitions, have clearly etch their depraved aspirations into the sidewalks and on the walls and in our schools and in our homes. A parade of their right to subversively contaminate the minds of our children, and theirs.

When an individual cries freedom, how are they defining freedom? Is it for the simple right to live in peace? For the simple right to raise their children, in a decent neighborhood, in the fashion that would not only perpetuate their moral sensibilities, but would have them develop into responsible individuals? Respectful individuals? And not for what they blindly see in front of them, and an opportunity for self-liberation, at the expense of someone elses liberty. This is what the notion of minority reparations has done in continuing to lower the standard of living for everyone across this country which separates us from them. Because the very idea of having to repair the damage of a self-inflicted poor self-image is now everyones problem. And everyones responsibility to address, favorably, without exception or the slightest of evaluation. This comes at a great cost.

It was an incredible imposition, if not a sacrifice, to leave an area because the people who moved into it made it unlivable. That we victims should remain voiceless, in their pursuits. It doesnt get any simpler than that. And it doesnt sweeten the sour taste I have when extreme minority groups decide we owe them any more respect than what theyve already imposed in the disrespect weve lived with for as long as I can remember, in their struggle for equality. A semblance of which is nothing of the kind.

It remains an incredible imposition to be now forced to compromise, if not sacrifice, the standards we've attempted to instill in our children, in dealing with the irreversible effects these people have incited, in nearly every aspect of our lives in these United States.

Its all in issue of respect. Not equality. Because they themselves tipped the balance by lowering the standard of everyday living. They did this. They started writing on the walls, and pissing in the stairwells. They made my familys life, though fortunately for a very short time, miserable. And the liberals in this country follow attentively behind the rear ends of these parasites, cleaning up the mess they leave behind, because the enema they shot into their bowels cant be held back anymore. And we live in its stench through our liberal media, our liberal educators, our liberal politicians and mostly through the selfish indifference and depravity of our neighbor next door, who would sing the praises of "minority groups who try to impose their will on the entire nation...'

So.... if President Obama can actually change the nature of supressed individual, or should I say these days, with more accuracy, self oppressed individuals, whomever they are, and however it came to pass that the element of respect has been completely wiped out of whatever family values exist among people, then I will most certainly have an obligation to endorse the presidency of this man. But given the nature of human beings, and the legacy of what liberals have instilled in perpetual hand outs and accommodation, along with the general breakdown of any core value and ethics in so many families in this country, I highly doubt that will make any viable impact because the problem is not the individual color or race or nationality or religion. It's the contemporary liberal perspective that the exercise of freedom in this country no longer carries moral parameter.

I am a black man and I say that Obama has not ended any thing. In fact--Obama has put salt into my Street Game!!

With him as president, my "game" has been off. Any body I try to mooch off of says "Obama became president, why can't you get a job!?" Even my old woman left me saying that she want "a man that can make money legally".

Last night a friend of mine, a 52 year old black dude, was showing me his collection of Topps Obama cards that his mother, an 80 something year old black woman, put together as a family heirloom. I am proud of an America that allowed a woman who grew up in the 40s to see the fruition of King's dream. Obama may not be a cultural panacea but his Presidency, in regards to solidifying black validity in America, is a net positive even if there are examples of standard issue political goofiness abound.

The whole black president thing is very romantic and cool...for all that Canada, Autralia, Britain, and the whole of Europe rag on us for being such a "racist" nation, how many of THEM have elected blacks to lead their country?

Unfortunately, I think the price is too great. It's a shame our first black president couldn't have been one who actually loves America and Americans, and who wants us to shine instead of fall to our knees.

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